U.S. Border Patrol Agent Arrested In Connections With 4 Killings, Kidnapping

(CNN) -- A US Border Patrol agent was taken into custody in Texas on Saturday morning in connection with the killings of four people and aggravated kidnapping, according to Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar.

The agent was identified as Juan David Ortiz, 35.

The bodies of three females and one male were found over the last two weeks, sheriff's spokesperson Eduardo Chapa told CNN.

"This case broke open yesterday with an aggravated kidnapping and then a lookout for a suspect, in this case Ortiz," said Isidro R. "Chilo" Alaniz, Webb County district attorney.

A fifth person, a female who was the victim in the alleged kidnapping, was able to escape and contacted authorities, providing a description of the suspect -- including a vehicle, a white Dodge truck, authorities said. The victim was "battling for survival" and had a gun pulled on her during the attempted kidnapping, according to Chapa.

Ortiz, Chapa said, was picked up in the early hours along Interstate 35 in Laredo.

"We have very strong evidence that he is the person who has been killing," Sheriff Cuellar said at a press conference posted on CNN affiliate KGNS's Facebook page.

Alaniz said officials will be looking at "potentially four charges of murder and aggravated kidnapping."

CNN reached out to US Customs and Border Protection, which had no immediate comment. It was not immediately known whether Ortiz has an attorney.

The-CNN-Wire
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